Unexpected
by AnimeAlexis
Summary: Piper decides to get an ultrasound while she’s in the hospital. What she sees is definitely unexpected. Set during The Day the Magic Died. Oneshot.


**Disclaimer:** I own DVDs, books, and my stories, but I don't own Charmed.

**Summary:** Piper decides to get an ultrasound while she's in the hospital. What she sees is definitely unexpected. Set during The Day the Magic Died. Oneshot.

Piper sat propped up in the hospital bed, waiting for the ultrasound doctor to make an appearance. Leo had just left to deal with another charge, and Paige and Phoebe had gone home to "prepare the spa", so the oldest Halliwell witch was officially alone in the room.

The doctor who had diagnosed her with the toxaemia had recommended she get an ultrasound to make sure the baby was ok. She was already in the hospital, the doctor pointed out, so why bother making another appointment?

'_I wish Leo could be here to see our daughter for the first time.'_ She thought sadly, as she fidgeted, wanting to get out of bed.

'_I hope she's ok. Are you ok, little Melinda?'_ she asked silently, receiving a kick in the kidney for her answer.

'_Ow. I guess that answers that question.' _A knock on the door interrupted her musing.

"Come in!" she called out, presuming it was one of the doctors. Sure enough, a man in a lab coat entered, wheeling a machine that looked very like a large tv.

"Piper Halliwell, is it?" he enquired, busying himself setting the ultrasound up. "I'm Dr. Joshua."

"Nice to meet you." Piper greeted. Her voice sounded shaky in her ears, and she cursed herself as the doctor picked up on it.

"First ultrasound?" he asked, smiling sympathetically.

"Is it that obvious?" Piper smiled weakly.

"Don't worry. Your attending doctor told me how you're training for an at home birth. It's not unusual. A lot of women prefer to give birth in a more familiar environment. My wife always says hospitals are a bit too sterile for her tastes." He said.

"Actually, it wasn't my idea. I like hospitals just fine, but my husband was all gung-ho to try a home birth, and then my sisters picked up on the idea and they all ganged up on me." She sighed.

"Well, you're the one having the baby." The doctor pointed out. "Shouldn't medical treatment and the location be up to you?"

"You would think that, but apparently not." Piper replied, smiling defeatedly.

"Hmm." Dr. Joshua mused, opening a bottle of gel. "I'm just gonna put this on your stomach, ok?" Piper nodded, and pulled her top over the bulge in her belly.

"All right then." The doctor said, spreading the cool gel around with some sort of remote thing. He started the ultrasound and Piper suddenly heard a regular thumping noise.

"Is that the heart?" she asked wonderingly.

"Yep." Dr. Joshua confirmed, turning the screen towards her.

"Oh, my God. That's my baby!" she grinned, ecstatic. The specialist smiled at her.

"It's turned away from the screen at the moment but I can move this over if you want to see the face." He offered. Piper nodded eagerly.

"Do you want to know the gender?" the doctor asked before he shifted the picture over.

"I think I already do." Piper answered. Dr. Joshua looked confused, so Piper clarified.

"It's always a girl in my family. I have three sisters myself. We haven't had a boy in more than two hundred years!" she explained.

"Huh." The doctor muttered. Piper tensed immediately.

"What? What is it? What's wrong?" she asked anxiously.

"Nothing, Mrs. Halliwell. Relax." The doctor assured her soothingly. "The baby's doing fine. You were lucky this time, your high blood pressure hasn't affected the baby. Size looks normal, it's well-developed. And the heartbeat is strong."

"Thank God." Piper relaxed. "Then what was the 'huh' about?" Dr. Joshua hesitated.

"You really want to know?"

"Yes, I do! If it could hurt my daughter, then I have to know, right?" Piper replied.

"Oh, don't worry about that. It won't hurt it. It just might be a bit of a shock for you." The doctor explained.

"Oh. Well, will it be bad if I don't know?" Piper queried.

"No. You're due in six weeks, right? I'm sure you can wait that long." He smiled. Piper gazed at the image of her baby's face as it came into view. Suddenly, the screen jumped as the baby aimed a kick at the remote thing.

Piper had a quick debate with herself. Did she want to know what it was the doctor was going to say? If it didn't affect the baby, she could wait five or six weeks, right?

On the other hand, Piper had never been one for patience, and being pregnant made her ten times worse. What harm could knowing do? Knowledge was power, right?

"Ok, I want to know." She decided finally. "Tell me what you were 'huh'ing about a second ago." The doctor smiled, and altered the screen again.

"How about I just show you instead?" he suggested. Piper took in the image and gasped, her jaw dropping open.

"Is that a –?"

"Yes, it is. Congratulations, Mrs. Halliwell. I believe you just broke your family's two hundred year tradition. You're having a baby boy!" Piper gazed at the screen in surprise, barely hearing him.

"A boy?" she whispered. "I'm having a son?" Her mind raced as she tried to figure out what this would mean for her and her family.

'_Leo's going to be thrilled!'_ Piper thought. _'But then, he would have been if it was a girl too. Well, at least the pregnancy showed that sh- no, he, won't have any problems with powers. Phoebe's gonna have to take back all the baby pink outfits she bought for Melinda, though. Melinda. Oh no, we're going to have to think of a name for him! But…it's weird. I saw Melinda in my future. I saw who she was. I can't believe we changed the future so much I'm having the first Halliwell boy in centuries, instead of the Halliwell girl that I saw. Or should that be Wyatt? Halliwell-Wyatt?'_

The doctor interrupted her rambling thoughts, looking worried at the perfectly blank look he saw on Piper's face.

"Mrs. Halliwell?" he called, trying to get her attention.

"Hmm?" Piper said, startled out of her reverie.

"Having a son instead of a daughter isn't a bad thing, Mrs. Halliwell. I realise it might be a shock to you, but –"

"Oh no, it's not that!" Piper interrupted. "I'm not annoyed, or horrified, or anything like that. The baby's gender doesn't really matter to me. He's going to be my baby anyway." She said softly, gazing at her son's face on the screen.

"It's just, well, a bit of a surprise. And most of the clothes are pink and purple." She finished sadly. The doctor laughed.

"Do you want a picture of the ultrasound?" Piper nodded.

"Thanks. That would be brilliant."

"Ok, I'll go organise it. I'll have the picture before you leave." He said, packing the ultrasound up and wheeling it out of the room. As he got to the door it opened, revealing Leo. Piper's husband held the door for Dr. Joshua, then entered the room himself.

"I just missed it." He commented ruefully, kissing his wife and then settling into the chair beside her bed.

"So how did the ultrasound go?" he questioned.

"What did you see?" She smiled at him, wondering what to say.

"Something unexpected." She managed at last. "Definitely unexpected."

She placed a hand on her stomach, laughing as she felt her son kick.

**AnimeAlexis:** What do you think? I don't know much about ultrasounds, but I think you might have guessed that. :-) Review and tell me what you thought of it!


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